The Archive of Archives

The whole shelf, in one place: the whimsical sites, the patent archives, and the library of old books.

The Museum of Hopeful Machines

Ten sites, opened August 2026. Ingenious machines built around promises larger than their proof — and the sibling archives they live among.

• The Museum of Hopeful MachinesThe front hall: charter, colophon, counters, five doors
• The Office of Perpetual Motion654 machines designed to run forever; ten certified so far
• The Archive of Doubtful Death30 safety coffins. No documented rescue. Improved bells
• The Bureau of PluvicultureRain by concussion, balloon, and cannon; Congress bought some
• The Dog Has a JobTreadmills, churns, spits; the machines worked, ask the dog
• The Archive of Disturbed HousesVote GHOST / RAT / PIPE / FRAUD; the 1880s verdict decides
• Lost and Found378 reward notices, 1855-1895. Fate not recorded
• How It Used to Be DoneThe complete Gallaher instructional cards of 1910, all 100
• The Endangered Names ListAmerican first names tracked to the federal reporting line
• Old School ExamsCould you pass eighth grade in 1895? The hall is seated

The Patent Archive — the first round

Ten archives of interesting American patents, organized by the objects people collect. Opened August 2026.

• Counterfeit Coin DetectorsEvery device patented to catch a bad coin · 1853–1960
• Apple ParersThe cast-iron ingenuity of the American kitchen · 1853–1950
• Duck & Game CallsPatents that talked to the birds · 1840–1960
• PadlocksA century of keeping things shut · 1839–1939
• Beehives & Bee EquipmentThe patented pursuit of the perfect hive · 1838–
• Antique WrenchesEvery grip the 19th century took on a nut · 1839–1899
• Fountain PensThe instruments that put ink under pressure · 1838–1919
• Fishing ReelsThe mechanical heart of American angling · 1852–1919
• Talking MachinesPhonographs & music boxes · 1849–1919
• And The World Did Not Beat A Path To His Door4,400 mousetrap patents. Twenty made money. This is about the others. Also serves as the Museum’s Vermin Control department

The Lazarus Library — the old books

183 century-old books brought back to the web across 7 domains — cookbooks, encyclopedias, curiosities, and the rest of the shelf.

forgottentrivia.com17 books

• Conundrums, Riddles and Puzzles
• Curiosities of the Bible
• Curious Questions — Killikelly's Cabinet of Curiosities
• Every Boy's Book
• Famous Film Folk
• Famous Impostors
• Historic Ghosts and Ghost Hunters — H. Addington Bruce, 1908
• Museum of Wonders, or Curiosities of the World, 1890
• Mythical Monsters
• Myths and Legends of Our Own Land — Charles M. Skinner, 1896
• Poker, Smoke and Other Things
• The Book of Buried Treasure
• The House-Keeper's Guide and Indian Doctor
• The Outline of Mythology
• The World's Encyclopedia of Wonders and Curiosities, 1883
• Toaster's Handbook: Jokes, Stories and Quotations, 1914
• Tricks with Coins — T. Nelson Downs, 1902

gardenhandbook.com13 books

• A Compleat Herbal
• An Encyclopædia of Plants — J. C. Loudon, 1829
• Culpeper's Complete Herbal and English Physician
• Familiar Garden Flowers
• Flowers for Every Garden
• Gerard's Herball
• Herb Lore — Fong Wan, 1927
• Historic Houses and Their Gardens
• How to Grow Roses
• Practical Flower Gardening
• The Complete Garden — Albert D. Taylor, 1921
• The Illustrated Dictionary of Gardening
• The Practical Book of Outdoor Rose Growing

historicalfoodie.com96 books

• 365 Dishes of All Nations
• 52 Sunday Dinners
• A Calendar of Dinners
• A New Collection of Genuine Receipts
• A New Snowdrift Cook Book
• Bakers Weekly Recipes
• Bohemian San Francisco
• Book of Valuable Recipes
• Breakfast, Dessert, Supper
• Buckeye Cookery
• Candy-Making at Home
• Canning, Preserving and Jelly Making
• Carving and Serving
• Cassell's New Dictionary of Cookery
• Celebrated Actor-Folks' Cookeries
• Certo Recipes for Making Perfect Jellies and Marmalades
• Choice Recipes
• Choice Recipes and How to Operate a Fireless Cookstove
• Consolidated Library of Modern Cooking and Household Recipes
• Cook and Be Cool
• Cook Book
• Cooking for Two
• Cooking in Old Créole Days — Célestine Eustis, 1904
• Dromedary “Novelty” Recipes
• Entertaining Made Easy
• Excellent Recipes for Baking Raised Breads
• Five Roses Cook Book
• For Luncheon and Supper Guests
• Fruit Recipes
• Gold Medal Flour Cook Book
• Good Food: How to Prepare It
• Good Things to Eat and How to Prepare Them
• High-Class Cookery Recipes
• Hot Weather Dishes
• Household Discoveries and Mrs. Curtis's Cook Book
• Housekeeping in Old Virginia
• How to Cook in Casserole Dishes
• How to Cook Vegetables
• Kettner's Book of the Table
• Kitchenette Cookery
• Libertyville Presbyterian Cook Book
• Low Cost Recipes
• Lowney's Cook Book
• Mackenzie's Ten Thousand Receipts
• Meals Medicinal
• Meatless Cookery
• Menus Made Easy
• Modernistic Recipe-Menu Book
• Mrs. Beeton's All About Cookery
• Mrs. Fryer's Loose Leaf Cook Book
• Mrs. W. H. Wilson's New Cook Book
• New Delineator Recipes
• Ninety-Nine Salads and How to Make Them
• On Uncle Sam's Water Wagon
• Outdoor Cooking
• Philathea Cook Book
• Pompeian Salad Recipes
• Pop Corn for the Home
• Reliable Recipes and Helpful Hints
• Salads, Sandwiches and Chafing-Dish Dainties
• Simple Italian Cookery
• Six Little Cooks; or, Aunt Jane's Cooking Class
• Student's Manual in Household Arts
• The 20th Century Home Cook Book
• The American Pastry Cook
• The American Soda Book of Receipts and Suggestions, 1905
• The Belgian Cook Book
• The Book of a Thousand Menus
• The Boston Cooking-School Cook Book — Fannie Merritt Farmer, 1896
• The Bread and Biscuit Baker's and Sugar-Boiler's Assistant
• The Bride's Cook Book
• The British Cookery Book
• The Butterick Book of Recipes and Household Helps
• The Butterick Cook Book
• The Candy Cook Book
• The Catskill Cook Book
• The Cook Book by Oscar of the Waldorf
• The Cook Book of Left-Overs
• The Cook's Decameron — Mrs. W. G. Waters, 1901
• The Cookery Book of Lady Clark of Tillypronie — ed. Catherine Frere, 1909
• The Dixie Cook-Book — Estelle Woods Wilcox (ed.), 1883
• The Epicurean
• The French Wine and Liquor Manufacturer
• The Grocer's Encyclopedia — Artemas Ward, 1911
• The Home Cook Book
• The International Cook Book
• The Italian Cook Book
• The Metropolitan Cook Book
• The Modern Method of Preparing Delightful Foods
• The New Royal Cook Book
• The Pleasures of the Table — George H. Ellwanger, 1902
• The Something-Different Dish
• The Story of Crisco
• The Up-to-Date Sandwich Book
• Twentieth Century Cook Book
• With a Saucepan Over the Sea

historybard.com17 books

• America First
• Dame Heraldry
• Dress Design: An Account of Costume for Artists and Dressmakers
• Herringshaw's Encyclopedia of American Biography
• Historic Shrines of America
• Names: and Their Meaning
• Our Country: A Household History of the United States
• Rameses the Great; or, Egypt 3300 Years Ago — F. de Lanoye, 1870
• Specimen Book of One Hundred Architectural Designs
• The American's Own Book
• The Book of Little Houses
• The Book of Old Ships
• The Great Republic by the Master Historians
• The Mirrors of Washington
• The Naval History of the United States — Willis J. Abbot, 1896
• The Story of Cuba
• World's War Events, Vol. III — Francis J. Reynolds (ed.), 1919

lazaruslibrary.com0 books

metaencyclopedia.com18 books

• 1000 Classical Characters
• A Dictionary of Shakespearian Quotations
• Abbott's American Watchmaker and Jeweler
• Aiton's Encyclopedia — A Practical Reference Library
• An Encyclopaedia of Occultism
• Collier's New Encyclopedia
• Dictionary of Burning Words of Brilliant Writers
• Encyclopedia of Practical Receipts and Processes
• One Hundred Best Books
• One Hundred World's Best Novels Condensed
• Pronouncing Dictionary of Musical Terms
• The Busy Man's Hand-Book
• The Cyclopedia of Practical Quotations
• The Encyclopaedia of Sport and Games — Earl of Suffolk and Berkshire (ed.), 1911
• The Encyclopedia of Founding
• The Meta Encyclopedia — design preview
• The Meta-Encyclopedia
• The Nautical Encyclopedia — Patterson, 1891

natureencyclopedia.com22 books

• A Book of Natural History — Young Folks' Library, 1902
• A Book of Precious Stones — Julius Wodiska, 1909
• A Year in the Wonderland of Trees
• ABC of Animals
• Ancient Jewelry
• Animals of the Past
• Birth Stones
• Camera Studies of Wild Birds in Their Homes — Chester A. Reed, 1911
• Extinct Monsters and Creatures of Other Days
• Finger-Ring Lore — William Jones, 1877
• Flowers and Their Friends — Margaret Warner Morley, 1897
• Handbook of Birds of Eastern North America
• How to Know the Butterflies
• How to Know the Wild Flowers
• Precious Stones: Their History and Mystery
• The Crown Jewels of England
• The Curious Lore of Precious Stones
• The Great Diamonds of the World
• The Honey-Makers — Margaret Warner Morley, 1899
• The Insect Folk — Margaret Warner Morley, 1903
• The Magic of Jewels and Charms
• The Nature Library — A Fifteen-Volume Guide to the Living World

Elsewhere

• Bucket List LotteriesWhat money can’t buy, raffled anyway